Good-Byes in 2017

Fall of 2017

   This fall also brought many difficult good-byes.

Nicole Leister Beaver

Tom Famulari

Uncle Ken Ryan

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.

And let the perpetual light shine upon them.

And may the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Fall 2017

November 2017

The rest of our Fall filled itself with the happenings of our life. The girls plugged through school, I plugged through transitions at work, and Jim plugged through his job hunt.

We raked leaves with help from the neighbors.

Hanna is in there somewhere

Bridget's 5th grade class practiced ballroom dancing and then they put on a showcase for the parents to enjoy.

In October Guiness opened their much anticipated temporary taproom just a few miles away and Jim began his in person networking efforts. He is hopeful to change industries and has been active educating himself  and getting to know all of the local brewing businesses.  We had fun at the Maryland Irish Festival as well.

Megan was our only kid to play soccer this year and was on a team with one of her best friends, Olivia. They were the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The rest of us cheered from the sidelines, in a season that had the nicest weather of any season we have ever participated. Megan is a fierce competitor, even as we discovered during the season that she has exercise induced asthma.

My work made some major changes at the end of the summer and as the Operations/HR Manager I had to implement the changes. Our parent company decided to close the Maryland office and they asked me to assist with the reduction in force.  I prepped and helped deliver the lay-off information to all of my co-workers, and then I flew to LA to handle the lay-off of 3 more employees there. That all happened at the end of August, and I spent the next few months handling all of the equipment and winding down our office. We were able to find a company to lease our space and they have allowed me to stay in the suite but move my office to a conference room. I miss my office with the glass wall and view of the windows but my new space functions well.

My old office

Emma came home for Thanksgiving and was regularly physically overrun with attention. Will and Heather hosted again this year and we ate and talked well into the evening.

The Los Jauquet's hosted a superhero party for the 4 of their 5 kids born in late November/early December.

Megan got straight A's during first quarter and I got to go to the breakfast. She even let me take her picture.

Rachael ended the month with a series of dentist appointments. We found a dental solution for her missing adult teeth and she was glad to get a Maryland Bridge, which doesn't destroy the healthy teeth and offers permanent replacement teeth. 

Johanna turns 5

November 2, 2017

   Wow this girl is amazing and exhausting and I am so glad she is here and that I get to be her Mom. This year Johanna has continued her fast pace and is eager for new information. Johanna is also quick to share that info. Regularly Hanna says "Guys, did you know...?" and her preference is always that you did not know this yet and heard it first from her.

   Johanna enjoys walking to and from school, she loves playgrounds and interacting with other kids, she loves books and being read to. Hanna has a real love of Jesus and shares this love when she makes birthday cards. Most of her handmade cards include a large drawing of Jesus on the cross with the birthday person at the foot of the cross. She talks and does not pay attention when we are in Mass, but she seems to switch at Communion as she approaches the priest or the extraordinary minister. At some point this year, she started crossing her arms across her chest and reverently genuflecting in front of the Eucharist, she waits for a blessing or a touch on the head before moving on. It is little glimpses of Hanna like this, that let me know she can pull it together when it counts.

   Her transitional kindergarten class this year has also started to encourage Hanna to be more considerate. Her class this year has a good number of alpha type kids and there was a lot of frustration as they each thought their idea was the best and play turned into asserting positions. Slowly though as the year has gone on, the kids have gotten better at letting somethings go and compromising. They are learning that it is more fun to play with friends than to just get what you want. Preschool has also impacted her favorite color choice. It is now pink.

   Johanna can be a lot of fun and really enjoys playing games. Candyland, Uno, and Chutes and Ladders come out regularly. Johanna likes to draw and frequently focuses her art on the content and utilizes one color for a whole picture. Hanna also likes watercolor and playdoh. She is into maps and diagrams and in the fall got into panda bears. Johanna regularly says "Hey, guess what?" We say "What?" She says "No. Guess.". Johanna has an affinity for port-a-potties and if she sees one she will claim that she needs to go to the bathroom in a hope I will take her inside. She is especially interested in the handle locks that show the bathroom is occupied.

Hanna started a ballet and tap class

    At bedtime Johanna sometimes has a hard time falling asleep. She has so many ideas going through her head. We had tried prayers without structure but it tended to turn into rambling ideas and fooling around, so we don't do much of that anymore. Now after stories, she and I usually each pick a song to sing, generally a church song but sometimes Hanna will improv her own love song to God, then we say a decade of the rosary.  I love that I get to lay in bed with her at bedtime, and that she wants me there.

   On her birthday this year Hanna put on a cat shirt that makes her smile and bounced her way to pre-school with cupcakes to share with her class.  That evening we gathered around Hanna in the living room to watch her open gifts. Her expressiveness makes gift opening fun to watch. And then the next night we went up to Towson to visit Emma and eat dinner at the restaurant where Emma works. It was fun to have us all together. After dinner we walked to an ice cream shop for some birthday dessert.

My SweetFace, CuteFace, Pumpkin, LoveBug, I wish you God's Many Blessings.

  Hanna we love you!